PR 2944 
.P8 
1916a 
Copy 1 




fe Greatest Work 

of 

Sir Francis Bacon 

Baron of Verulam 
Viscount St Alban 



Riverbank Laboratories 
Geneva, Illinois 



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c ) e-vv-«M, 



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ze Greatest V\^ork 

of 

Sir Francis Bacon 

Baron of Verulam 
Viscount St. Alban 



Riverbank Laboratories 
Geneva, Illinois 



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Copynghi, 19 16 
George Fabyan 






The Great Work: Its Discovery 

The theory of the existence of ciphers in English printed works of the 
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries has beerhvery widely entertained. The 
number of those who have made more or less intelligent attempts to find a 
clew to, or a solution for the cipher, the presence of which they instinctively 
suspected, has been very great. With the majority of these the imagination 
has run riot, and the most fantastic anagrams, acrostics, and word puzzles 
have been gravely ofi^ered by these self-styled "discoverers." Without 
training, without method, and with nothing but a suspicion as a basis for 
their work, they have erected their own theory and have deliberately culled 
this fact and that fancy and placed them in a false setting which they have 
termed "proof." The utter absence in this mass of ingenious nothings of 
anything of serious literary or historical value has produced the inevitable 
result of more or less tolerant contempt and even of active prejudice on the 
part of scholars and students of literature, who might otherwise have been 
disposed to approach the subject with an open or receptive mind. 

Others there are who have seriously addressed themselves to the prob- 
lem of ascertaining whether or not. in a given work, the cipher really 
existed; what its character might be; what the method of its solution, and 
what message it conveyed. In the few cases where the results have appeared 
to have been reached by scientific methods an impartial investigation has 
usually resulted, either in dissipating the claim made, or in discrediting the 
methods followed in the alleged decipherment. In all such cases speculation 
proved to have formed the ground work on which the theory was built, and 
neither the theory nor the results could stand the analytical tests of scientific 
scholars. Mere belief in a theory, however honest and however strong it 
may be, can of itself lead to nothing of scholarly value. The essential ele- 
ment of all productive research is the possession of a theory for which there 
is a basis of fact — not an efi^ort to adapt the facts to clothe a theory. 

The effort, the imagination, and the ingenuity which have been ex- 
pended in the attempts to establish the existence of one or the other of the 

3 



various ciphers claimed, at various times, to have been discovered in these 
old works, constitute a remarkable exhibition of instinct — gone astray. 
That the facts forming the starting point in the investigation of this subject 
and lying right at hand, and forming a sign post pointing to the right 
direction have been overlooked by investigators of scholarly training and 
able minds, only goes to show that the most obvious facts are often neglected 
for those more remote and more difficult of approach. 

In his work, De Augvientis Scientiarum (translated into English, under 
the title: "On the Advancement of Learning"). Sir Francis Bacon, in the 
chapter devoted to ciphers, says: 

Let us proceed then to Ciphers. Of these there are many kinds: simple ciphers; 
ciphers mixed with non-significant characters; ciphers containing two different letters in 
one character; wheel-ciphers; key-ciphers; word-ciphers; and the like. But the virtues 
required in them are three; that they be easy and not laborious to write; that they be safe, 
and impossible to be deciphered; and lasdy that they be, if possible, such as not to raise 
suspicion. For if letters fall into the hands of those who have power either over the 
writers or over those to whom they are addressed, although the cipher itself may be safe and 
impossible to decipher, yet the matter comes under examination and question; unless the 
cipher be such as either to raise no suspicion or to elude inquiry. 

But for avoiding suspicion altogether, I will add ;in()ther contrivance, which I devised 
myself when I was at Paris in my early youth, and which 1 still thinkworrhy of preservation. 
For it has the perfection of a cipher, which is to make anything signify anything; subject 
however to this condition, that the infolding writing sh;ill contain at least five times as 
many letters as the writing infolded; no other condition or restriction whatever is required. 
The way to do it is this: First let all the letters of the alphabet be resolved into transposi- 
tions of two letters onlv. For the transposition of two letters through five places will 
yield thirt)'-two differences; much more twenty-four, which is the number of letters in our 
alphabet. Here is an example of such an alphabet. 

A aaaaa N abbaa 

B aaaab O abbab 

C aaaba P abbba 

D aaabb Q abbbb 

E aabaa R baaaa 

F aabab S baaab 

G aabba I baaba 

H aabbb V baabb 

I abaaa W babaa 

K abaab X babab 

L ababa ^ babba 

M ababb Z babbb 



To Elizabeth Wells Gallup, a deeply read student of English literature, 
to whom belongs the enduring credit of discovering the existence and the 
solution of the Baconian Biliteral Cipher, these suggestions of Sir Francis 
Bacon came with the same effect as does a bright light to one who has lost 
his way in the dark night. The subject of ciphers, as said to have been used 
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, had long been for her a fasci- 
nating object of speculation and conjecture and reading. But with no solid 
ground on which to stand she had with the true instinct of the research 
student carefully held her imagination in check and refrained from allowing 
herself to take more than an academic interest in a subject already discredit- 
ed by theorists and dreamers. In the face of the Baconian passage however, 
she found herself in possession of a positive declaration — a fact on which to 
base experimental research, a clew which, if intelligently and skillfully 
followed, might lead to the long-hidden treasure. 

Careful study of Bacon's own declaration gave her the following prin- 
ciples on which to regulate her future procedure: 

1. — That Bacon had himself devised a cipher consisting of varying combinations ot 
a and h in a group of five for each letter of the alphabet (see page 4). 

2. — That Bacon had himself made use of this cipher. 

3. — That Bacon had applied the use of the cipher to italic type. 

4. — That the cipher consisted of the use of two forms of type, similar in general ap- 
pearance, but with inherently distinct characteristics, distinguishable only on close exami- 
nation. 

5. — That Bacon designated the two forms of type bv the letters a and h. 

6. — That the fundamental principle of Bacon's so-called Biliteral Cipher la}' in 
causing each letter ot the printed page to be set up trom either the a or the h form of type, 
as might be needed to form a group of five represented in the code, each such group of five 
letters on the printed page constituting one letter of the message concealed therein. 

7. — That in deciphering (i. e. in extracting the hidden message from the printed page) 
it would first be necessary: (1) to determine the presence in the printed page of two closely 
similar but inherently different forms of type, (2) to ascertain which form was regarded by 
the author of the cipher as the a form and which as the b form, and (3) after assigning each 
letter on the printed page to its appropriate form by writing such assignment beneath each, 
to divide the whole into groups of five, and by reference to the aforementioned code to 
ascertain whether the letters represented by such groups, when assembled in their sequence, 
spelled anything intelligible. 

5 



It was plain that if Bacon's cipher as propounded and explained by him- 
self had been incorporated in any existing book it would be necessary that 
a search for it shcndd be controlled by each of the foregoing principles. The 
main difficulties confronting the investigator were two: (1) to ascertain the 
presence of the two forms of type, and if this was proved, then (2) to de- 
termine by laborious experimenting which form was to be regarded as the 
a form, and which the h form. Upon a correct solution of this matter 
would depend the determination of the momentous question of whether a 
cipher message was really embodied or infolded in the printed page. 

Here then was a difficulty of staggering proportions encountered at the 
outset. The first glad realization of the vast possibilities for investigation 
involved in Bacon's declaration had made the task seem easy. The princi- 
ple of the application of the cipher was clearly stated by him. He had gone 
so far as to give the cipher code or key, and had explained how he applied it 
by the use of two forms of type. What would be easier than to work back- 
wards, separate the type into its two forms, apply the code, or key, and read 
the result? It seemed so simple and plain in the light of the inventor's 
own explanation. But how to separate the type into its two forms — there 
was the rub ! Which form was the a form, and which the h form 1 

Much thought suggested one principle on which experimental work 
might proceed. .An examination of the cipher code, or key, offered by Bacon, 
showed that the total number of a's utilized in the combinations for the 
twenty-four letters of the alphabet (the i and y, and the ii and v, being 
respectively regarded as one letter) was 69, and the total number of ^'s 
51. On this slender fact the assumption was predicated that since the a% 
were used more frequently than the ^'s in the code, that type form which 
occurred in the printed page with the greater frequency would prove to be 
the a form — provided always that the printed page proved to contain the 
cipher described by Bacon. 

Up to this point, however, Mrs. Gallup had achieved nothing of practi- 
cal value toward a solution of the problem, other than a compilation of a 
set of principles by \n hich her future investigation should tentatively be con- 



trolled. Consequent events proved the correctness of her method of reason- 
ing by means of which these principles were evolved. 

The next question to be settled was "Which of the printed works of 
Bacon's period should be examined to ascertain whether they contained a 
cipher.?" 

It was to the Shakespearean pages that the speculative theorists and 
experimentalists had always turned when, for the amusement of themselves 
and a limited coterie of like-minded optimists, they had turned out their 
arbitrarily ingenious anagrams, etc. "Why not be bold," Mrs. Gallup asked 
herself, "and dig deep in the very mine where others have delved.? Their 
failure to find anything except the product of their own imagination does not 
prove that the treasure is not there." 

With the principle in mind that the cipher would be found in italic 
type, if at all (see principle 3 above), she turned to an original copy of the 1623 
Folio edition of Shakespeare. The page containing the "Prologue" to the 
play of Troilus and Cressida, and the page containing the "Digges Poem" 
and the "I. M. Poem" forced themselves on her notice as being wholly 
in italic type (unlike most others in the volume). Further examination 
showed that the "Prologue" page was printed in type, some of the letters 
of which were obviously in two different forms. In the light of the principles 
she had laid down for her guidance, this page seemed to hold promising 
possibilities, and accordingly the "Prologue" was determined upon as the 
first point of attack. The wonderful instinct which, though ever held in 
check by rigidly scientific principles, had characterized Mrs. Gallup's work 
throughout, had again led her to take the right step at this critical juncture, 
as later events proved. 

The first point of attack having been determined upon, there followed a 
long period of laborious experimentation, minute comparison of letters, and 
microscopical examination of their differences. If the existence of two forms 
of each letter were conceded in theory, it was fundamentally necessary to 
determine what were the distinguishing characteristics of each form and to 
ascertain whether they could be so declaratively determined to apply as to 



enable each occurrence of a given letter to be assigned without any hesita- 
tion to the a or to the b form. The minute laboiiousness, the sharpness of 
eye, and the retentiveness of memory indispensable to success in such an 
undertaking, were all brought to bear on the work by Mrs. Gallup with a 
quickened sense that she was entering on a virgin field of endeavor, that 
there were no precedents to guide her, and that success depended on the 
elimination of every possible element of error by the most patient experi- 
mentation and effort. 

Mrs. Gallup's early tentative decision that that form of a letter which 
occurred with the greater frequency should be regarded as the a form was 
of little more than theoretical value, since in most cases the differences 
between the letters were so slight as to constitute the task of classifying 
them and assigning them to their respective forms one of enormous difficulty. 

Note. — It may not be amiss to add a word of comment at this point. It should be 
clear that in order to conceal a cipher message in a printed page by means of the use of two 
forms of type, the letters of each form must necessarily have such a close superficial resem- 
blance to each other as to deceive the eye of the casual and uninformed reader, else the very 
object of the cipher — concealment — would obviously be defeated. If the differences were 
apparent to the naked eye on a casual examination, it would be an easy matter for readers 
familiar with Bacon's contemporary work, in which he had promulgated both the principles 
and the key of the cipher, to apply the latter in deciphering the concealed message. The 
necessity then for the use of two forms of type, whose differences were minute, and not 
apparent to the casual observer, should bt clear without further argument. 

It is not exaggerating to assert that many days of labor were required 
to formulate the "alphabets" of the a and b form of each letter employed in 
the " Prologue" page. Frequently a letter would be assigned during the 
examination to the a or to the b form only to find that such assignment 
resulted in a combination which was meaningless, when the group of five 
to which it belonged was compared with the key. Further examination 
and comparison were then of course necessitated, and a redefinition of 
characteristics of the respective forms followed. 

One by one the difficulties — sometimes apparently almost insurmount- 
able obstacles — were overcome; order came out of chaos, principles of form, 
discoverable in each letter, were found — and the long hoped-for, laboriously 

8 



Transcription of Prologue 



Troilus and Cressida 

Showing form to which each 

letter belongs, and the 

concealed message 



PROLOGUE TO TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 
SHAKESPEARE FOLIO 1623 



ThePr 
aabab 


ologu 
baaaa 


eINTr 
aaaaa 


oyThe 
abbaa 


relye 
aaaba 


stheS 
abaaa 


ceneF 
baaab 


romll 
baaab 


esofG 
baaba 


reece 

aaaaa 


ThePr 
ababa 


inces 
aaaab 


Orgil 
aaaaa 


loust 
abbaa 


heirh 
aaabl) 


ighbl 
aabaa 


oodch 
baaab 


afdHa 
aaaba 


uetot 
aabaa 


hePor 
abbaa 


tofAt 
aaabb 


henss 
aabaa 


entth 
aaabb 


eirsh 
aabab 


ippes 
baaaa 


Fraug 
abbab 


htwit 
ababb 


hthem 
baaba 


inist 
aabbb 


ersan 
aabaa 


dinst 
ababb 


rumen 
abaaa 


tsOfc 
aabba 


ruell 
aabbb 


Warre 
baaba 


Sixty 
babba 


andni 
aabbb 


net ha 
aabaa 


twore 
baaaa 


Their 
abbab 


Crown 
aabaa 


etsRe 
baaab 


gallf 
abbab 


romth 
aabab 


Athen 
baaba 


ianba 
baaaa 


yPutf 
abbab 


ortht 
babba 


oward 
ababa 


Phr\-g 
abbab 


iaand 
baabb 


their 
abaaa 


vowis 
abbaa 


madeT 
aabba 


orans 
aaaaa 


ackeT 
abbaa 


roywi 
aaabb 


thinw 
baaaa 


hoses 
aabaa 


trong 
baabb 


emure 
aabaa 


sTher 
baaaa 


auish 
abaaa 


dHele 
abbaa 


nMene 
aabba 


lausQ 
baaba 


ueene 
aabbb 


Withw 
aabaa 


anton 
baaab 


Paris 
aabaa 


sleep 
abbaa 


esand 
abbab 


thats 
aaaab 


theQu 
ababa 


arrel 
aabaa 


IToTe 
aaaaa 


nedos 
abbaa 


theyc 
aaaba 


omeAn 

aabaa 


dthed 

baaab 


eeped 
baaba 


rawin 
abbab 


gBark 

baaaa 


edoth 

baaab 


eredi 
aabbb 


sgorg 
abaaa 


eThei 
aaabl) 


rwarl 
abaaa 


ikefr 
abV)aa 


autag 
aabbb 


enowo 
abaaa 


nDard 
baaab 


anPla 
babaa 


inesT 
baaaa 


hefre 
abaaa 


shand 
baaba 


yetvii 
abaaa 


bruis 
abbaa 


edGre 
a abba 


ekesd 
baaab 


opitc 
aabbt) 


hThei 
abbab 


rbrau 
ababb 


ePaui 
aabaa 


llion 
baaaa 


sPria 
baaab 


mssix 
abaaa 


gated 
ababa 


CityD 
ababa 


ardan 
abaaa 


andTi 
aaaaa 


mbria 
aaabb 


Helia 

baaat> 


sChet 
aaaaa 


asTro 
abbaa 


icnAn 
aaabb 


dAnte 
abbab 


nonid 
aaabl) 


iiswit 
babba 


hmass 
l)aaal) 


ieSta 
baaab 


plesA 
aabaa 


ndcor 
babba 


respo 
abaaa 


nsiue 
abbaa 


andfu 
aaaba 


Ifill 
abaaa 


ingBo 

abbba 


ItsSt 
aabbl) 


irrev 
aabaa 


ptheS 
baaaa 


onnes 
babaa 


ofTro 
abaaa 


yNowE 
baaba 


1 xpect 
aabbb 


ation 
baaba 


tickl 
aabbb 


ingsk 
aabaa 


ittis 
aaaaa 


hspir 
aabaa 


itsOn 
abbaa 


oneaii 
aabaa 


dothc 
abaaa 


rside 
aaabb 


Troia 
abbab 


nandG 
aabab 


reeke 
baaba 


Setsa 
aabbb 


Uonh 
aabaa 


azard 
abliaa 


Antlhi 
abbab 


thera 
aaaal) 


mJcom 
ababa 


eAPro 
aabaa 


logue 
baabb 


armdb 
abaaa 


lit not 
baaaa 


incon 
aabba 


fiden 
abaaa 


ceOfA 
ababa 


uthor 
abbl)a 


si)cn() 
baaaa 


rActo 
abaaa 


rsvoy 
abbaa 


cebiit 
aaaba 


suite 
aabaa 


dJnli 
abbab 


kecon 
aabab 


(litio 
ababa 


nsaso 
aaaaa 


urArg 
baaba 


ument 
abaaa 


Totel 
abbaa 


lyoiif 
abbba 


aireB 
abbab 


ehold 
aabaa 


ersth 
baaba 


atour 
baaab 


PlayL 
abaaa 


eapes 
abbaa 


oreth 
baaab 


evaun 
aaaba 


tandf 
baaaa 


irstl 
al)aaa 


iiigso 
aaaab 


fthos 
abaaa 


ebroy 
abbaa 


lesBe 
aabba 


ginni 
baal)a 


ngint 
aal)bb 


hcmid 
aabaa 


dicst 
ababa 


artin 
aabaa 


gthen 
baaba 


ceawa 
baaba 


vTowh 
aabaa 


at may 
baaaa 


bedig 
baaab 


ested 
baaba 


inaPl 
abbab 


ayLik 
aabaa 


eorfi 
ababa 


ndefa 
abaaa 


ultdo 
babbb 


asyou 
aaaaa 


rplea 
aaaab 


sures 
aabaa 


areNo 
baaba 


wgood 
aabbb 


orbad 
baaaa 


tisbu 
aabab 


tthec 
baaab 


hance 
baaba 


ofWar 
aaaaa 


re 





















Deciphered Message 

Francis St. Alban, descended from the mighty heroes of Troy, loving and revering these noble ancestors, hid in 
his writings Homer's lUiads and Odyssey (in Cipher), with the AEneid of the noble Virgil, prince of Latin poets, 
inscribing the letters to Elizabeth, R. 

F. St. A. 



sought-for treasure finally showed itself to the delighted eyes of this patient 
prospector. 

With each letter classified as to its a or its b form, the procedure of 
deciphering was a simple step forward. Under each letter of the original 
text was written the a or the b designating the form to which it belonged, 
and the whole was then divided off into groups of five, each such group of 
a's and ^'s representing one letter as shown in Bacon's cipher key (see 
page 4). Facing this page is a transcription of the "Prologue" 
arranged in groups of five: beneath each letter is the a or the b, to which 
form such letter belongs. Each such combination or group will be found 
to represent a corresponding letter in the cipher key. This is shown in 
order to enable the reader to follow the method of deciphering — simple 
enough when the difficult preliminary step already described of assigning 
the letters to their respective class has been accomplished. 



Appendix 

The exhibits, miniatures of which are found in this pamphlet, are de- 
signed to assist the serious student in traversing the path so laboriously, yet 
ingeniously, pursued by Mrs. Gallup in her pioneer work. In Plate I, the 
"Digges" and the "I. M. Poem" have been dissected and analyzed, and their 
letters classified. These poems were selected for the purpose (1) because 
they are printed in italic in the original (a basic condition precedent, ac- 
cording to the hint offered by Bacon himself for the incorporation and con- 
sequent decipherment of a cipher), and (2) because being short they permit- 
ted of exhaustive analysis /« their entirety within the limits of the exhibit. 
The plates should be examined from the top downward, beginning at the 
left, and proceeding in like manner with each column. Each illustration 
in the plate will explain itself, and should be studied minutely and exhaust- 
ively before passing from one to the next. The third and fourth columns 
of Plate I will each be found, when taken together, to present the "I. M. 
Poem" as a whole. Three illustrations in each case were necessary, since 
in each individual illustration only every third letter is illustrated, and com- 
pared (in column 3) or contrasted (in column 4) with the typical letter of its 
own, or of the opposite form. An intelligent following of the translation of 
the "I. M. Poem" (foot of column 2) and of the "Digges Poem" (foot 
of column 6) will be greatly facilitated by reference to the cipher key, given 
on page 4 of this pamphlet. 

In like manner a dissection of the "Prologue," of the "Catalogue," 
of the list of "Principall Actors," and of a page from "Love's Labour's 
Lost" is presented in Plate II. Each illustration merits careful study in 
the light of the principles enunciated above, and each will be found of ser- 
vice in fixing the characteristics of the type forms in the student's mind" 

The second illustration in column 6, Plate II, is deemed important in that 
it show how Ignatius Donnelly, probably the most celebrated — as well as 
the most ridiculed — of the would-be decipherers of the Shakespearean pages, 
was actually knocking at the door of a great discovery, but fumbled and 

10 



failed, although alreadyonthe threshold, to find the true combination which 
would unlock the safe in w hich the treasure lay. It furnishes an instructive 
comparison between his unproductive labors and the scientific results 
achieved by Mrs. Gallup. 

Accompanying this pamphlet are cards designated as "Classifiers." 
The purpose for which these have been prepared is to assist the student in 
examining and classifying the printed italic type of the Shakespearean 
page. When the slot of the Classifier is placed over any line of the original 
the blank space permits an examination of the line thus exposed. The 
letters above and below the blank then serve to show the typical or char- 
acteristic form of the a or b font. Thus a'comparison of a given letter on 
the original page with its typical a or b form on the Classifier will enable the 
student with little diflficulty to determine the form to which the letter ex- 
amined belongs. The use of these Classifiers will be found of great value in 
fixing in the student's memory the characteristics of the two forms, which 
will result in the facilitating his marking of the original, and of reaching the 
consequent decipherment by his own efforts. 

Plate III has no apparent, direct connection with the Biliteral Cipher. 
Yet it is exhibited here for a highly important purpose, which is now to be 
explained. The connection will then, it is hoped, be clear. 

In the citation from Bacon's De Augmentis Scientiarum given on p. 4 
above is the following language: "Let us proceed then to Ciphers. Of 
these there are many kinds; .... ciphers containing two different 
letters in one character [i.e., the Biliteral Cipher]; wheel-ciphers; key- 
ciphers; word-ciphers, and the like." The Biliteral Cipher, as has been 
shown above, is explained and the key thereto is furnished by Bacon in his 
"open" or acknowledged work. Years of labor on the Biliteral Cipher and 
of deciphering the hidden messages concealed by means of it have produced, 
among other things, the directions for the use and "unraveling" of the 
Word Cipher. In other words, unlike the Biliteral Cipher, the Word 
Cipher is not explained by Bacon in his open works, but is alluded to only. 

The directions for its use — and consequent decipherment — are concealed in 

11 



the biliteral pages of Bacon's concealed works, and, as deciphered by means of 
the Biliteral Cipher there contained, they read as shown in Plate III, 
illustration 7. 

An examination of Plate III, illustration 6, discloses the following trans- 
lation of the Biliteral Cipher concealed in the Prologue: "Francis St. 
Alban, .... hid in his writings Homer's Iliad . 

Plate III, therefore, if its several illustrations are examined in the 
light of the foregoing, will be found to contain: (1) an assertion of the 
"hiding" of the Iliad, "in cipher" (illustration 6); (2) directions for follow- 
ing the Word Cipher (illustration 7); (3) "guides" referred to in the direc- 
tions, and constituting an essential element in deciphering; (4) a page from 
the play of Troilus and Cressida, showing passages, words, and phrases 
inclosed in black lines, and constituting those (on that page) demanded by 
the rules of the Word Cipher for the translation of the Iliad: (5) passages 
of the translation of the Iliad, of the Continuation of the New Atlantis, of 
the Tragedy of Anne Boleyn, and of the play of Sejanus, all obtained through 
the Word Cipher. 

For our present purpose the importance of these incomplete selections 
lies in the fact that they could never have been extracted or deciphered 
had not the directions for so doing been discovered through the Biliteral 
Cipher. The latter, therefore, is the fundamental keystone of the arch 
or entrance through which we may gain access to a garden whose flowers are 
choice and rare, but which until now have remained strange and unknown 
to us. The New Atlantis in its unfinished state has been the despair of 
students of Bacon. The completion is now accessible through the Biliteral 
and Word Ciphers. Plays, tragedies, translations of the Iliad, the Odyssey, 
and the Aeneid, transcending in sonorous diction and impressive verbiage 
any English translation known (and not "that by Chapman," as hinted by 
Professor Pierce), have lain buried for three hundred years. As a result 
of Mrs. Gallup's labors, some have already been completely mined and 
extracted; others are in process of decipherment. 

12 



A vast amount of work has been done. More remains yet to be done. 
The Biliteral Cipher is the gateway to it all. 

It" the foregoing will serve to awaken an interest in, and to promote a 
study of, the subject, the cause of English literature will be advanced — 
its enrichment is assured. 



It remains only to add that all the pages dissected in these plates are 
photographed from genuine originals of the 1623 Folio, and represent the 
actual appearance of the printed page. The Shakespearean student is, of 
course, familiar with the fact that the process of type-casting as well as that 
of printing was more or less crude and primitive in the early part of the sev- 
enteenth century. The mold from which the type was cast was held in the 
hand; the molten metal was poured in, and hand pressure was exerted in 
forming the letter. The type page was inked by hand for each impression; 
the ink being applied to the type by balls of wool, which distributed the ink 
in uneven quantity — sometimes in clots, sometimes heavily, sometimes 
lightly, always irregularly. The paper was moistened before receiving the 
impression, and this was irregularly accomplished, one part of the sheet 
often being less damp than another part, resulting in greater contraction in 
some places than in others in the process of drying. All these facts should 
be kept in mind as important details when examining the letters of each form, 
and particularly when examining column 5 of Plate I. They will be found 
to account for the apparent lack of resemblance of some of the grouped 
letters. The use of a magnifying glass will assist in showing that the 
app.arent points of difference between letters clearly of the same general 
characteristics are accountable for by one or more of the facts detailed above. 

The plates inserted in this book are miniatures of originals designed 
for hanging in libraries. A magnifying glass will make it possible to read 
the miniatures. Inquiries about the large plates may be addressed to 
Riverbank Laboratories, Geneva, Illinois. 



13 



Notice 

It is a serious misfortune to the cause of literature and of science 
that no organized body exists in the United States to which a literary, 
historical, or scientific question may be submitted, as to the Academie 
Francaise in France. 

Not only do we lack the larger and more comprehensive body, but 
we have no National Association of those to whom Bacon's works, his 
history, his thoughts and his aims are a subject of study and discussion. 

With the object of establishing a common meeting-ground for all 
such students, of furthering research in the subject presented in this 
pamphlet, and of providing a literary clearing-house for the promulgation 
of the results of research in the general field of Baconian literature, 

The American Academy of Baconian Literature 

has been founded with a temporary organization to conduct its afifairs 
until, through a general meeting of its members, a permanent organiza- 
tion can be effected. Those interested are urged to address, for all 
information, 

THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF BACONIAN LITERATURE, 

Riverbank, Geneva, Illinois. 



1-t 



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